A Branch of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, USA

Out of the depths of depression

For today’s contributor, who at one point attempted suicide, the idea that God not only exists but is good and always present became so powerful to him that he was freed from mental darkness…

When I was a young teen, I began to suffer from symptoms of depression, though at the time I didn’t know what was wrong. A gnawing sadness and loneliness characterized my thoughts. A few years later, things got so bad that I tried to end my life – unsuccessfully, as you can guess.

As my misery grew, I began to drink with school friends on the weekends, the chief goal being to get drunk as quickly as possible. I even started cutting classes and spent my days sitting in the cafeteria.

I had grown up attending the Christian Science Sunday School, and though I respected and appreciated the men and women in our church, I nevertheless developed a conviction that God did not exist. Sunday School taught me that God was good and only good, but it felt as though the power of the universe had nothing better to do than crush me completely, without mercy…

For the entire contribution by Dean Coughtry in a Christian Science Perspective from The Christian Science Monitor listen or read here